Editorial: Gamblers - Time for another probe of campaign donations

It's the gift that keeps on giving, even after we try to return it. It's the crazy uncle who keeps showing up for dinner, even after we bought his bus ticket home.

Campaign-finance corruption is North Carolina's plague with no cure.

We got a double dose last week as three supporters of former Gov. Bev Perdue were fined for illegal contributions to her campaign and the State Board of Elections sought a probe of donations to our current governor and lawmakers. There is small comfort, at least, in the bipartisan nature of the problem, which may at least spare us from holier-than-thou finger pointing.

Two of the Perdue backers faced felony obstruction of justice charges for hiding the source of money for campaign charter flights. They pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges. The third admitted funneling $32,000 to help pay a fundraiser's salary.

Meanwhile, Board of Elections officials reviewed evidence that Internet sweepstakes companies and lobbyists may have distributed more than half a million dollars to Gov. Pat McCrory's and many lawmakers' campaigns. It was part of an effort to reverse a state law banning the sweepstakes cafes. Donations went to McCrory, Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Thom Tillis, as well as nearly 60 other lawmakers in both parties.

It appears that at least half the money came from Oklahoma gaming tycoon Chase Burns, who's charged with running a nearly $300 million illegal gambling operation in Florida. Many of Burns' donations were funneled through lobbyists working for Moore & Van Allen, the Charlotte law and lobbying firm that employed Gov. McCrory until he took office in January.

Some donations appear to have been direct corporate campaign contributions, which are illegal in North Carolina.

This is troubling enough. But worse, the donations were discovered by the campaign-finance watchdog Democracy North Carolina, not by any state agency overseeing campaigns.

It's clear that campaign-finance reforms haven't gone far enough. The laws may be better, but enforcement is weak.

The Board of Elections needs to conduct a full, unbiased and public investigation that follows the money wherever it goes.

And the General Assembly needs to follow up by giving state regulators the tools they need to spot illegal campaign contributions quickly.

Meanwhile, lawmakers should forget about efforts to end public financing for judicial elections. The judiciary is the only branch of government apparently untouched by gambling money. Let's keep it that way.

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